The U.S. Senior Open (for players over 50) was held in Tarrytown, NY, from May 28th through June 2nd. The six round event drew a 57 player field including 2 Grandmasters, 2 International Masters, 3 FIDE Masters, 6 National Masters, and one Woman International Master.

The Tournament ended in a 4-way tie for 1st place between GM Alexander Ivanov (Champion on tie-breaks), GM Sergey Kudrin, IM James Rizzitano, and FM Nathan Resika, who all scored 5 out of 6.
Since the under 2300 prize was greater than 4th prize and Resika was under 2300, the prize was bumped up and the 4 winners each recieved $800; while the 4th place prize was bumped down to IM Jay Bonin and FM Dan Shapiro (4.5/6) who each recieved $150.

The best player over age 60, Leonid Bondar (4/6), was awarded a $1,000 stipend to travel to Croatia to play in the World Senior Championship, which he has accepted. The U.S. Chess Trust is a proud supporter of this event and will provide a $500 stipend for the World Senior Championship. The USCF is also providing $500 stipend for a total of $1,000.

After four rounds there were four players leading the tournament with three and a half points. The pairings for Rd 5 for the top two boards were: Ivanov 2641–Bonin 2405 and Kudrin 2580–Shapiro 2304. I realized I needed a win in order to fight for first since Sergey was going to be my last round opponent even in case of a draw in one of these games

Former US Junior Open Champ and now US Senior co-champ Jim Rizzitano shows us his entertaining tussle against dangerous Nuyorussian Master Yefim Treger.
Rizzitano,James (2424) - Treger,Yefim (2252) [B00]Annotations by Rizzitano

I walked into the tournament room on Thursday night and saw several players I had not played against in more than 30 years. I remember thinking "Is this what it all comes down to? Those 30 years sure went by quickly!". The board 1 game Kudrin-Ivanov was a quick draw so I knew early on that a win would tie for first place.

Nathan Resika decribed his cute underpromotion in his final round game with Croatia bound Leonid Bondar as "not entirely necessary but definitely the simplest win."

Resika spoke about his final round and his Senior Open triumph: My last round opponent had beaten 2 National Masters and drawn dangerous NuyoRussian master Yefim Treger. His opening innaccuracies on moves 12 and 20 gave me a healthy advantage. He also engaged in a policy of trading pieces, perhaps in hopes of a draw. However, my studies last year of Ulf Andersson's games paid off as his 15th (Bxg2) and 19th (Bxb2) trades made White's edge decisive.

It meant a lot for me to tie for 1st place in my first U.S. Senior Open championship. It was also an honor to share the prize equally with one of my first teachers, GM Alexander Ivanov, as well as two other New England legends, GM Kudrin and IM Rizzitano.